North Carolina
Dramatic video shows North Carolina beach house wash away
Outer Banks home crumbles into Atlantic Ocean during Hurricane Ernesto’s swell
A home in North Carolina’s Outer Banks was swept away on Friday, August 16, as Hurricane Ernesto unleashed hazardous surf conditions across the region.
RODANTHE, N.C. – A beach home was swept into the ocean on North Carolina’s Outer Banks Friday as Hurricane Ernesto brings hazardous conditions to East Coast beaches.
Chicamacomico Banks Fire & Rescue shared video from bystanders that shows the Rodanthe beach home drifting into the surf as rough waves slam the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
Onlookers can be heard screaming and repeating, “Oh my god!”
A second video shows debris strewn across the beach as people survey the damage. It’s the seventh Outer Banks home to collapse in four years, according to WVEC.
North Carolina’s coast is almost entirely made up of narrow, low-lying barrier islands that are increasingly vulnerable to storm surges and to being washed over from both the bay and the sea as the planet warms. As sea levels rise, these islands typically move toward the mainland, frustrating efforts to hold properties in place.
Hurricane Ernesto was slowly pulling away from Bermuda after making landfall as a Category 1 hurricane on the western side of the island early Saturday.
Despite being downgraded to a Category 1 storm during its final approach, Bermuda was smacked with 85 mph winds, heavy rain, pounding waves and storm surge.
On the East Coast, beaches from Florida to Maine are expecting an increase in rip currents and surf that could make ocean ventures dangerous through the weekend.
Several other Outer Banks homes are at risk of collapse over the next few days, officials said.